Sorry for the delay on the chapter. I had a particularly bad migraine last week and didn't get much sleep this week, since I kept waking up in the middle of the night because of the heat. I also think I will switch to updating on Saturdays, rather than Wednesdays, just in case something like this happens again. In actual fact, this chapter was up on my pat reon almost two weeks ago, but I didn't have the time, nor the ability to proofread it. I considered uploading the raw version, but the perfectionist in me wouldn't have it and it was on my pat reon already anyway. It has also been busy over here, since one of my uncles died last fortnight too and we've been making arrangements for all of that as well and people have been coming over to offer their condolences.
Basically, I've been super busy and not feeling well.
In any case, the long (even though it was pretty short) journey of Natsu's is coming to an end now and there will be a time skip or two soon. All that is left is to introduce Cosmos and Kamika in the coming chapters, before I skip a bit ahead to Natsu interacting with the other guilds, before we finally get to canon, timeline wise at least, considering Natsu will be running off on his own, away from Fairy Tail.
On a different note, I've put a referral link to one of the games I play on my pat reon and if you register through it, I get a bonus, so if you are bored and/or want a MMORPG to play, check that out.
Lastly, the poll is looking pretty conclusive and it seems that much like Oprah gives away free stuff, you people have given Natsu lots of romantic interests. Truthfully, I'm pleased, as a lot of the people in the poll for this harem are quite rare and it will be fun to use them.
Enjoy the chapter!
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Fairy Tail anime/manga. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
*expression*
Flashback
Techniques
Chapter 6 – Family
'So where are we going now, Natsu?' Asked Happy, from atop his partner's head.
The group consisting of Natsu, Happy, Meredy, Flare and the recently recruited Wendy and Carla, trudged onwards to their next destination.
'Well, it seems we're heading back towards the palace, but not directly. Yeah, it says there is one more place we need to stop at on the way.' Said Natsu, scrutinising the piece of paper he held.
'What are we looking for?' Asked Wendy curiously.
'Hmm, someone with a black key… weird.' Mumbled Natsu.
'Are you sure it is a wise choice to blindly follow what that letter says?' Asked Carla, a white furred cat, wearing a pink dress, from within Wendy's grasp.
'Why not? It helped me find all of you, so it can't be that bad.' Said Natsu.
Carla didn't appear happy at his answer, but gave a small nod nonetheless.
'It's okay Carla. If we are together, then we should be fine.' Said Wendy optimistically.
'Anyway, I was wondering what powers you have Wendy.' Said Natsu.
'Well, I am the Sky Dragon Slayer so I have lots of useful support magic and I can heal others as well, but my attacks aren't very strong.' Said Wendy shyly.
Natsu placed his hand atop the smaller girl's head and grinned at her.
'Don't worry Wendy, I'm sure you are stronger than you think. Besides, once we get to the castle, I can start training you and you might even learn a few things from that book I found.' Said Natsu, his smile proving to be infectious, as one of her own formed on Wendy's face.
The group fell into a comfortable silence after that, as they continued to make their way back to Mercurius.
-line break-
'There you are princess.' Said Arcadios, as he finally tracked down Hisui.
The green haired girl was in her favourite garden, squatting down low to gaze at the flowers forlornly.
'It's been weeks now Arcadios.' Sighed Hisui.
'Princess, he went on a search across the entire country, that is going to take time.' Reasoned Arcadios, but the princess wouldn't have it.
'I don't care, I'm bored and… I miss him.' Huffed Hisui.
'Hisui, there you are.' Said Toma, as he spotted his daughter and made his way towards her.
'Father, what is it?' Asked Hisui.
'Well, given how upset you've been these past few days, I sent out a scout or two to search for young Natsu. If they are to be believed, he seems to be heading in this direction.' Said Toma, causing his daughter to look up hopefully.
'You mean he is coming back?' Asked Hisui.
'It seems that way.' Said Toma, getting a smile from his daughter.
'I'm glad.' Said Hisui, containing her happiness.
'However, I don't think Natsu would be too happy to hear you were lazing about in his absence.' Added Toma.
'Of course not, I will be off.' Said Hisui, giving a small bow, before leaving the two men behind.
'Well Arcadios, it seems we have the Princess back in high spirits.' Said Toma happily.
'My Lord, are you sure it is wise to toy with the Princess's feelings like this? From the sounds of things, the boy will be disappearing frequently to search the land. Are you sure the Princess will be able to handle this?' Asked Arcadios.
'Give it time, Arcadios. Their friendship was still in its early stages when they separated, I'm sure that with time, Hisui will be able to withstand young Natsu's future absences.' Said Toma.
'If you say so, my Lord.' Said Arcadios.
-line break-
'Okay, I think this is the place.' Said Natsu, looking at the letter one last time, before putting it away.
'How can you be sure?' Asked Meredy.
'Well, it said to head back for the palace after finding Wendy and the first town we came across would be where we would find the person with the black key.' Said Natsu.
'What if we missed a town though?' Asked Flare hesitantly, at seeing so many people milling about.
'I would have smelled it if we did. This is the first place that I've picked up on with human scents, so it has to be here.' Said Natsu.
'Well, we could look around for a bit at the very least.' Said Wendy, getting nods from the group.
The group made their way through the town, with Flare in particular being awed by the sights and sounds.
'It sure is noisy.' Commented Wendy.
'Not really, most towns are like this. You're probably not familiar with it yet because of living out in the woods before now. It takes a while to adjust your senses to the noise.' Informed Natsu.
'But I don't have any more money.' Said a girl, grabbing Wendy's attention.
'I'm sorry, but times are tough, and I can't just give you food for free. I'm sure you could get some if you sold your key, but I can't help you, I'm sorry.' Said a man.
Wendy whipped her head around trying to find the source of the sound, only for Natsu to pat her on the shoulder. Looking up, Wendy saw Natsu was staring off to the side, at a small fruit stall. Wendy followed his gaze and saw a small girl, who looked to be around her age, if not a year younger, talking with the stall owner, a middle-aged man with brown hair and brown eyes.
The little girl stuck out among the crowd, as she had light blue hair, an oddity for sure. The girl sighed and bowed her head dejectedly, mumbling a quick thank you and apology, before turning away from the stall and heading away from the busy marketplace.
'How much for a bag of those?' Asked Natsu, as he walked over to the stall owner.
The man turned his gaze to Natsu and scrutinised the boy.
'I doubt you would have enough, but perhaps we can make a deal.' Said the man.
'What kind of deal?' Asked Natsu.
'Nothing too dangerous, I just need help unloading my wares from inside. I may not look it, but I'm reaching my sixties and I'm not as fit as I was in the past. If you help me out, I'll give you a bag of apples in payment.' Proposed the man.
'Okay, that sounds fair.' Agreed Natsu.
'You three, you can explore the town for a bit if you want, this shouldn't take long.' Said Natsu confidently, before heading into the stall owner's small tent and bringing out a box.
'Or you can go and try and find the person we are looking for.' Added Natsu, before heading back in for another box.
'What should we do?' Asked Wendy.
'I think we should go and find the person we are looking for?' Said Meredy.
'Do we even know what they look like?' Asked Flare.
'I guess not, but it shouldn't be too hard to find a clue or something.' Said Meredy.
The group of three girls and two cats then wandered off with their new goal in mind, while Natsu continued to earn their next meal.
-line break-
'A Dragon Slayer you say?' Asked a man, with a long white beard and eyepatch.
'Yes Master Hades. While Zancrow will not admit so, he proved quite powerful, as did the girl he saved, who possessed a great deal of latent power for her age.' Said Ultear.
'Feh, one lucky hit counts as quite powerful now, you're overselling things, Ultear. It was a couple of brats with a bit of potential, hardly worth reporting about to Master Hades.' Huffed Zancrow.
'You both make good points; however, it is of no consequence currently anyway. Ultear, I would like for you to infiltrate the Council currently and Zancrow, I would like you to go send a message to a rogue guild, which has foolishly broken away from the Balam Alliance. I trust the two of you can handle these tasks.' Said Hades calmly.
'Of course.' Said Ultear, with Zancrow merely grinning in excitement.
'Then be off, soon, we will show the world the might of Grimoire Heart.' Said Hades, before his two subordinates left.
-line break-
'That's the last of them.' Said Natsu, as he placed the final box down.
'Thank you for your help young man.' Said the stall owner.
'No worries old man, happy to help.' Said Natsu.
'In any case, here is your bag of apples, as agreed upon.' Said the man, handing Natsu his payment.
'Thanks. Hey, I don't suppose you could tell me about that little girl that was here before?' Inquired Natsu.
'Yukino? Whatever for?' Asked the man.
'Well, I kind of felt bad for her not being able to get any food. I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find her.' Revealed Natsu.
'I see, how noble of you. Well, I can't say I know Yukino very well, only that she stumbled into the village one day looking quite haggard. She came from a nearby village that had been attacked and only had the clothes on her back with her. She manages to get by through little jobs here and there, but it isn't an easy life to be sure. I keep telling her to sell that key of hers, but she refuses to budge, claiming it was a gift.' Said the man.
'A key? Why would a key be worth money? You wouldn't even know what it would open.' Questioned Natsu in confusion.
'It isn't an ordinary key; it is a magical key and I'm sure someone would be interested in buying one. Alas, Yukino refuses to sell it. Oh, but I believe I've digressed, if you'd like to find Yukino, she lives in a small hut on the edge of town, just over that hill.' Said the man, pointing off in the distance.
'Thanks for all the help.' Said Natsu, before walking off, the bag of fruit slung over his shoulder.
"Now I just need to find the others and then we can go look for Yukino. I'm sure she must be the person we are looking for." Thought Natsu, before trudging through town.
After fifteen minutes of fruitless searching, despite the apples on his back, Natsu decided to make his way to the hill, hoping to get a better vantage point and if that failed, heading straight to Yukino. Once Natsu had gotten away from the town, he picked up on the scents of the others and started to follow them.
-line break-
'Are you sure you know where we are going?' Asked Wendy.
'Pretty sure. I can feel a small source of magic ahead. Normally it wouldn't mean anything, but in this town, it sticks out like a sore thumb.' Said Meredy.
'Are we going to be in danger?' Asked Flare, the ends of her hair starting to twitch.
'I don't think so. It isn't much stronger than any of us, but like I said, it sticks out.' Said Meredy.
The group emerged from the tree line and spotted a small house not too far away. Calling it a house was generous though, as it was quite small and run down.
'So, what now?' Asked Flare.
'The magic is coming from that house.' Said Meredy.
'So is it a magic house?' Asked Happy from Meredy's shoulder.
'Of course not, it means someone with magic is in that house.' Admonished Carla.
'Is it okay for all of us to just go there? I mean, wouldn't it be a little scary if a few people just showed up at someone's house.' Whispered Wendy, pressing her fingers together repeatedly.
'Yeah… maybe we shouldn't.' Said Meredy, before she felt a familiar source of magic nearing them.
Turning around, Meredy quickly spotted a tuft of pink hair, not too dissimilar from her own.
'There you all are.' Said Natsu, emerging from the tree line, a bag of fruit slung over his shoulder.
'What are you doing here?' Asked Meredy.
'Same thing as you five I bet, you were tracking down Yukino, weren't you?' Replied Natsu.
'Yukino?' Questioned Happy.
'The girl we are looking for. Well, I'm pretty sure it is the girl we are looking for.' Said Natsu, giving a small chuckle.
'Come on, let's go.' Said Natsu, walking past the group, with Happy hitching a ride on his head as he did so.
'I guess we should follow.' Said Meredy after a moment, getting a nod from the two other girls and a sigh from Carla.
'Hello, anyone home?' Asked Natsu, as he knocked on the tattered wooden door.
There was a small yelp from inside, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. A moment after that, the door slowly opened.
'Hello?' Greeted the light blue haired girl uncertainly, as she opened the door.
'Hi, Yukino, right?' Asked Natsu, getting a slow nod from the girl.
'Here, I got this for you.' Said Natsu, taking the bag of apples off his shoulder and offering it to the much smaller girl.
'W-why?' Asked the girl in shock.
'Hmm, why? Don't you want them? I saw you asking for food at the market and wanted to help you out.' Said Natsu, giving his signature grin.
Yukino's face gained a healthy blush at this, causing her to look down at the ground bashfully.
'Here, I'm sure you're hungry.' Said Natsu, taking an apple out of the bag and giving it to Yukino.
The young girl tentatively took the fruit and started at it for a moment, before taking a small bite.
'It's delicious, thank you.' Said Yukino, after tasting the fruit.
At that moment, Flare, Meredy and Wendy, with Carla in her grasp, reached the house as well and observed Yukino properly. She appeared quite frail, but there was a nice colour to her skin, making it appear as though she was in the sun a lot. Her clothes were rather old, but appeared well looked after.
'Hello.' Greeted Wendy, drawing Yukino's attention to them.
Yukino observed the three, before focusing on the girl who seemed to be closest to her in age and was also the one to greet her.
'Hello, who are you? I'm Yukino.' Said Yukino.
'I'm Wendy and this is Carla, it's nice to meet you.' Said Wendy, giving a small bow.
'I'm Meredy.' Said Meredy, getting a nod from Yukino, before her gaze shifted to Flare.
'F-Flare.' Said the timid girl, getting a small smile from Yukino.
'Oh that's right, I never introduced myself, I'm Natsu and this is Happy.' Said Natsu, getting his blue furred friend to add his own greeting.
'Aye sir! Nice to meet you.' Said Happy.
'W-would you like to come in?' Offered Yukino nervously.
'Sure, just let me know where to put this bag first.' Said Natsu.
'You can bring it inside. Please, come in.' Said Yukino, turning around and leading the group in.
If her home looked small from the outside, it was even smaller on the inside. The kitchen and living room took up most of the space, both continuous to one another. There was a single chair in the kitchen and a small table, which seemed to have torn up leaves scattered over it. In the corner of the living room was a small heap of blankets and one pillow.
'Sorry I don't have chairs for all of you to sit on.' Apologised Yukino.
'Don't worry about it, this is a nice place you have here.' Said Natsu, waving off her concerns, as he plopped himself down on the floor.
The rest all followed suit, with Yukino joining them as well.
'So Yukino, what are you doing here all alone?' Asked Natsu.
Yukino appeared to become quite sad at this and looked to the floor.
'I… didn't have anywhere else to go.' Said Yukino.
'What about your family?' Asked Natsu.
'They're gone.' Said Yukino quietly.
'Ne Yukino, do you want to be part of our family?' Asked Happy, after he waddled over to her.
'What do you mean?' Asked Yukino.
'Natsu went around looking for all of us to help.' Said Meredy.
'Cherry head is very nice.' Added Flare.
'My master told me to go with Natsu because we are both Dragon Slayers and because he trusts Natsu.' Finished Wendy.
'Why do you want me though? I'm nothing but bad luck.' Said Yukino.
'What makes you say that?' Asked Natsu.
'My family… they got hurt because of me.' Said Yukino.
'What makes you say that?' Asked Carla.
'They were protecting me. I couldn't stand up for myself, so they were always protecting me. I'm just bad luck.' Said Yukino.
'Nah, I don't think so. Family is supposed to protect family, that's what family is for. It isn't your fault for your family protecting you, they would have wanted to protect you because they care about you.' Said Natsu, getting Yukino to look up at him.
'No, it's my fault. One day, I wandered away from our village… and this nice person gave me a key, a magical key… but… there were people looking for this key and I didn't know. A few weeks later, those people came to our village and attacked us, looking for the key. I didn't know what to do, but my parents told me to run away with my sister. We almost made it away, but they started to catch up to us. My sister… she told me to hide… I didn't know what to do, so I just did it, I don't remember what happened after that, but when I woke up, everyone was gone and so was our village. It was all because of me.' Said Yukino, tears starting to escape her eyes.
The tears abruptly stopped, when a knock was heard on the door. Yukino carefully made her way to the door, only for it to be kicked in, by a man wearing a dark cloak, with an eye on it.
'We finally found you! You didn't think you'd get away, did you?' Asked the man.
'N-no, it's you. You're one of the people that attacked our village.' Gasped Yukino.
'That's right, so you already know what I'm here for. Hand over the key and we might let you live.' Said the man.
'No, it was a gift. The person who gave it to me said it would protect me and that I should always hold on to it.' Said Yukino.
'Well too bad for you, we need that key, and we won't stop until we get it.' Said the man, before all the air was expelled from his lungs and he was sent flying out of the house, breaking the door off its hinges.
'I won't let you hurt Yukino.' Growled Natsu.
'Who the hell do you think you are, brat?' Roared the man in anger.
'It doesn't matter, Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.' Said Natsu, sinking his gut into the man's stomach, causing his eyes to roll back into his head, before falling backwards unconscious.
'Yukino, even if you are bad luck, it doesn't matter because I don't need luck anyway. Come with us Yukino and we can be your new family and I promise we won't let anyone hurt you.' Said Natsu.
'B-but I'm bad luck.' Protested Yukino.
'It doesn't matter to Natsu. Natsu just wants to help people.' Added Happy.
'Natsu saved my life as well, you can trust us.' Said Meredy.
'N-Natsu is very kind too.' Added Flare.
'Yes, Natsu will help us get stronger too, besides, it'd be fun to have more friends.' Said Wendy.
'A-are you sure you want me?' Asked Yukino.
'Only if you want to be with us. This is your decision, but if you come with us, I promise you won't regret it.' Said Natsu.
Yukino sniffled a few times, making Natsu think he might have said something wrong. Just before he could say anything else though, Yukino looked up with a smile, despite the tears running down her eyes.
'Please take me with you, I want a family again.' Pleaded Yukino, only for Natsu to grin.
'Yukino, welcome aboard.' Beamed Natsu.